ABSTRACT
As we have said, sculpture in Japan originated in the service of religion, and the only examples of any size, un~il a comparatively modern date, which come under our notice in this country, are those which partake of that character. Principal among these are shrines and figures or deities. Few date back beyond the sixteenth century. To that epoch the lacquered statuette of Ikkiu-osho, a Buddhist priest (Illustration No. 126), belongs; I may cite this as an example showing a nobility of pose and an individuality seldom met with in any Chinese or Indian work.
